whistle commands

Is there anywhere (on the labrador site or elsewhere) that lists the common whistle commands?

Steve Kimberley was of the less is more school and used verbal commands(mostly directional) and some physical but very little whistle and the classes we're going to are the other extreme with constant whistling, so much so I can barely work out what whistle is for what activity. Also everyone there was a little bit different from each other.

I know the spanners have extra stuff as they quarter and I believe my two pip recall would be used to get a spanner to change direction. I'm mostly thinking about hunting and when (and what) you'd whistle and when you should use Hi-Lost (or something else). At the moment if Riley's in the right area but hasn't found the ball/dummy yet I just tell him to 'find it'. He seems to have grasped that that means he's in the right place and to keep hunting.

Barbara, I can only really speak for myself because as you said everyone has different commands.
My whistle commands are 1 long peeeep for stop whistle - a series of short pips for recall (in bursts of three) - 2 quick pips for turn whistle when quartering.
In addition I have hand signals to be used together with whistle or on their own.
My voice command to hold a certain area when hunting for a retrieve is 'Lost There'. Lab people tend to call it Hi-Lost or they use a whistle command.

Stop peeeeeepCome towards me pip-pip-pip or pip-pip-pip-pip-pipTurn pip-pipHunt right there for a retrieve peeeeep-pip in a softer way than the sharp peeeep of the stop whistle.

Traditional gundog verbal commands

Stop Hup (now falling into disuse, but a few old spaniel trainers including me still use it)Come towards me Here or come Commence quartering (to a pattern) Get on (spaniels)Hunt right there for a retrieve Hi lostRun out away from me Back (retrievers) Get out (spaniels, though some spaniel trainers now use this for running to the side)

Traditional gundog hand signals

Stop Raised hand like a policeman stopping traffic, some of us don't use this anymore but have adopted the US approach of whistle only, this is because the stop hand signal is so similar to the back/get out signalRun towards me A hand held low and to one side, palm facing the dogRun out away from me Raised hand (pushed forwards if you also use this for a stop command)Left and right are self explanatory with arms directly out to the side, and some retriever trainers teach angle backs using arms out to the side and partially raised

only raising a pet i get confused with the whistle, my one and only concern was the recall that took time with the whistle, i am delighted to say ( WE HAVE GOT THE RECALL ) .....we have gone from strength to strength thanks to pippas total recall book
i don't no if i am right or wrong to perfect one thing before moving onto the next,.....being a pet i never push things, he retrieves and brings it back to me , that is good for us, he is still only a baby, i have been working on good manners, in the house and on lead, .....i do think if i have got a good mannered pet with training i am sure i wont go wrong, ....jasper is one next week he as finely got the recall from other dogs,...he as never been allowed to chase bikes or joggers, he adores children,..........my next step is stop at whistle, any advice will be grateful..... i like to perfect both the task inside and out before i will get it perfect,.....all task/commands take time, even months in some cases , i am working on the stay at the mat in the house, i wont rush as when he gets it , it will be perfect, i will spend the 3 x 5 mins a day training him .....he is a little star just like the rest of the good labs,.....i never ever thought i would get so far, i am so proud

I would have trained the verbal command and then introduced an associated whistle command to replace it.

Am I just adding confusion to the pot ?

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It really does not matter what order you teach in provided you are clear in your own mind what you are teaching each time you set up a training session. I normally teach recall to whistle first, then add the verbal later. Some people do this the other way around. I teach the verbal sit first and the whistle sit later. But either way is fine.